Time In Between
by Toa Allanon
Summary: Makuta didn't let Vakama go because he might smash the Vahi. It was because he did.


Author's Note: I read _Time Trap _today for the first time in years, and for the first time since I've started watching Doctor Who. When I reached the end, when Vakama was threatening to smash the Mask of Time, I got an idea. A "What If" idea. A crossover idea. And here it is.

**"Time In Between"**

It was a bluff. He didn't want to do it, but he meant what he said. The Master of Shadows could not have the Mask of Time. And when the Makuta would not bend, Vakama swung the hammer with all his strength. The Vahi broke in half. The Makuta charged him with a furious roar, but his face betrayed the horror he felt. The Mask of Time was already starting to create chaos, waves of energy spreading outward. The creator of the Mask grabbed the pieces, flinching as the unbalanced power messed with his body. He prepared himself for the pandemonium.

Someone grabbed the Toa of Fire and before Vakama knew it he was inside some structure. As he looked at his abductor and the building he was now in, Vakama believed the madness was in full swing. He hoped his fellow Toa would forgive him unleashing this on the world.

"What did you do?"

Vakama blinked at the speaker before looking around. For a world that was supposed to be in chaos, things were very stable here. Nothing was changing at random. Everything was the same as it was a few seconds ago and staying that way. There was a gentle humming coming from all the machinery in the room. The technology was so marvelous that the Mask-maker wanted to examine everything in detail.

"Oy, Cyberman, what did you do?"

The cold tone the speaker took made Vakama take a cautious step away. Even if he wanted to answer the question, he found himself at a loss for words. The being was like nothing he could have ever imagined. It made his head hurt trying to comprehend it.

"It doesn't look like a Cyberman, Doctor."

The Toa of Fire turned to the second speaker. His eyes were drawn to what was on her head. At least, he assumed it was a she. The red head covering was like a bright splash of color in contrast to the drab colors of the room. Both of these beings appeared to be the same species, and an intelligent species too. But their faces….their faces were disturbing.

"It's really….red, for a Cyberman," she continued, looking him over. Then she looked at the first speaker, tilting her head. "Do they come in different colors?"

The "Doctor" began mumbling something and pulled a stick out of the weird flappy things all over his body. Then he pointed the "stick" at him and it began glowing and squealing. Vakama jumped back in surprise.

"What are you doing?"

The Doctor tipped his head back with a look of amusement, like some Rahi that just got away with stealing a treat. "Oh, so it speaks." Then he looked at the noisy stick. "Not a Cyberman then." He looked back at Vakama curiously. "What are you?"

"I am the Toa of Fire, Vak – "

"And what's this?" The Doctor snatched the broken pieces of the Vahi away from him.

"Give those back!" The Toa and Doctor began a tug of war with the orange fragments.

"Boys! Hey!" Their attention was drawn back to the one with the bright head covering. "Doctor, you can play with toys later."

"Right. The thing."

Vakama was forgotten as the Doctor hopped up onto the platform where the red one was. Switches were flicked and buttons were pressed in spastic fashion. Then the room shuddered and lurched.

"Oh, I know, just hold it together, old girl," the Doctor said soothingly to…the machine?

Vakama had enough of the strangeness. "What is going on? Where are we? Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm the Doctor, this is Amy – " The red headed being waved " – and this," he gestured to the room, "is the TARDIS."

The room shook again.

"Doctor, do something!" Amy shouted.

"I'm trying."

"Try harder. You said it's just a little time hole. Fix it Time Plumber."

"Time Plumber?" Vakama asked, looking down at the Vahi.

"Time Lord!" the Doctor shouted, sounding very annoyed. "And the little hole is not so little anymore. It's already the size of the planet."

_The planet_. Vakama felt cold. Everyone was gone, and he was safe. It wasn't right. He headed for the doors.

"Oy-oy, stop!"

The Toa opened the doors and froze. It was horrible. It was everything he imagined the chaos would be and worse. The doors were slammed shut and he was hauled away from the nightmare. The Doctor was shaking him, trying to snap him out of the spell the darkness put on him. Then something was thrust in front of his face, something orange.

"What. Are. These?"

Vakama shook his head and focused on the pieces of the Vahi. Since he was still firmly clutching the broken Kanohi pieces, the Doctor was holding the Toa's hands up. The red Toa shook off his grasp and gazed at the broken Mask sadly.

"It's…the Mask of Time. I broke it."

"A mask – you broke it." The Doctor sounded incredulous. "Why would you break something like this?"

"Well, you break stuff all the time," Amy drawled pointedly.

"I had to," Vakama replied bitterly. "I had to keep it from the Makuta. I didn't know…I couldn't have known. This is all my fault." He was silent for a moment, staring at the Vahi pieces. "Maybe I can fix it." He looked up at the "Time Lord." "If I fix it, will things go back to normal, Time Lord?"

"The Doctor, just the Doctor," the black headed one said distractedly. "Maybe, yes. If it can be fixed, we could work with that. Gimme."

Vakama moved the broken pieces out of the Doctor's reach. "No," he said testily. "What do you know about Kanohi? It's my Mask, I made it, and I'll fix it."

The Doctor stared at him in astonishment. "You? You _made_ a time controlling… Can O' he? You made this?"

Vakama nodded. "I can fix it. Just give me a moment." He sat down and hunched over the pieces. Without any tools, he had to work very carefully. He concentrated the flame around his fingers and began working.

"Whoa. I thought you said you were a Toe of Fire," Amy said, coming closer to watch.

The Toa of Fire laughed, more to release the tension he felt than in humor. "Toa," he corrected her. "Hero. I need to concentrate."

The room began shuddering again, making his grip shift. He extinguished the flame before he could mess up. The Doctor raced up to the center console again, fiddling with the controls.

"Oh, no, take your time, Vak," the Time Lord said in irritation.

"Vakama," he snapped back. "And I'm going as fast as I can. It took me days to make this in the first place."

"We don't have days!" He swung around, fixing him with a disbelieving look. "Did you say it only took you a few days to make a time thing?"

"Stop distracting me. And, well, it took me a bit longer to get all the components together. There. It's done." Vakama held the Vahi in his hands, hesitating to put it on.

"What are you waiting for?" Amy demanded, holding onto one of the railings as the shaking worsened.

"I…I've only used this once," he said quietly. "And…I wasn't good enough."

"You made that thing. You made this mess. You've fixed the mask. Now fix the mess."

The Doctor's words reminded Vakama that he was a Toa. This was his duty. By now even standing upright was becoming an issue, and the Toa put the Kanohi on. He began to focus, but even with the danger around, he was uncertain about using the power. But everything was already falling apart. He gathered his thoughts, focusing. His surroundings began to shift and blur. He couldn't make it any worse, right?

* * *

Vakama was raising the hammer, glaring at the Makuta with determination. Something nagged at him, a sense of déjà vu. Judging by the look on the Master of Shadow's face, the Maktua felt it too. The Toa brought the hammer down.

"Wait!"

The hammer stopped. He had been so close to unleashing hell on everyone. He was happy that he did not have to destroy his masterpiece. But he could not explain the immense feeling of relief or the feeling of dread when he was bringing the hammer down.

* * *

They were free, for a year at least, from the Makuta's evils. Even though things were good now, he could not shake this feeling that he was missing something. He was forgetting something very important. He started walking through the tunnel, to his friends and the Matoran above.

With his back turned to Metru Nui, he missed the strange blue pillar on the shore that was vanishing noisily.


End file.
